Gregor and the King of the Jabbers
by Ripred Dominates
Summary: Gregor's family had just bought a house in the middle of Virginia, and Gregor, his dad, Lizzie, and Boots weren't happy about leaving the Underland. But then they discover one of the 5 entry ways to the Underland in the cellar, Gregor goes on a new quest.
1. Virginia

**Note: Same drill. I don't own the Underland, or the characters, but I DO own MY characters. I mean, the ones I made up.**

Gregor stared out the car window, watching objects speed by. They had been on the road for hours, and he was immensely bored. And depressed.

Lizzie and Boots were equally sad. Well, at least Lizzie was. Boots was happily singing, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" at the top of her lungs. She didn't know that they were leaving the Underland behind forever.

It had been over 3 months since Gregor had rolled the stone over the passage that separated the Underland and the Overland. And despite major protests from Gregor, Lizzie, and even Gregor's dad, his mom was firm that they move to Virginia. So here they were, on the road, never to see the Underland-and Luxa-again.

Finally, the car pulled into a bumpy driveway in front of a small house. The family got out of the car.

"Here it is!" said Gregor's mom enthusiastically. "Isn't it just beautiful?"

"Beautiful" was definitely not the word Gregor would use to describe the house. _Or more accurately, the shack_, he thought bitterly. The building would have to be the ugliest house he had ever seen in his life. It was made of wood, not brick, and it's windows were shattered and shutters broken.

Gregor's dad and Lizzie weren't very happy with the house's appearance, either. Even Boots stopped singing for a moment.

"Who house is that?" she asked, puzzled.

"That's our house, sweetie." Gregor's mom explained. "Isn't it just fantastic?"

Boots frowned. "House bad."

Gregor's mom laughed nervously. "Oh, silly, it's not bad. It's beautiful! Fantastic! Immaculate! Wond-''

"Yes, yes. We've heard all that before." said Gregor impatiently. He grabbed the flashlight Mrs. Cormaci had given him and walked towards the back of the house.

"Where are you going?" called his dad?"

"Exploring." Gregor answered without looking back.

"Oh! Oh! Exporing! Me too!" said Boots excitedly. Lizzie also joined as the trio walked around the house,

Their dad sighed. "How about I go with the kids, and you start unpacking?" he suggested. "Sure!" said Gregor's mom, eager to see what was "beautiful" and "wonderful" on the inside, also.

Meanwhile, Gregor, Lizzie, and Boots were staring at the backyard. There were dead grass and flowers everywhere, and where there wasn't foliage, there was dirt and mud.

As he was looking at these things, Gregor's eyes settled on what appeared to be a cellar door. Having nothing else to do in the backyard, Gregor, his dad, Lizzie, and Boots opened up the door and climbed down.

It was very dusty. Gregor started coughing immediately. Probably nobody has been down here for years. He shown his flashlight around.

It seemed like an ordinary cellar, with boxes and tools scattered everywhere. Suddenly, Boots shouted, "Look, Gregor! It's a treasure chest!" She pointed to a corner of the cellar and Gregor directed the beam at it.

It _was_ a treasure chest. Or at least, a chest. Gregor went over to see what was inside. He opened it and peered in to it. "Hey, it's-''

He never finished his sentence. As he leaned over the chest, he had fallen in.

"Gregor! Gregor! Are you all right?" asked Lizzie, running over. But as she looked into the chest, she knew something was not all right.

Gregor had disappeared.


	2. The Deadlands

"Ahhh!" Gregor screamed as he plummeted down into emptiness. Then he felt the familiar updraft and saw green steam surrounding him. Wait. It can't be…

"I'm in the Underland!" he said aloud.

His first reaction was one of relief. He _won't_ be leaving the Underland! It was in his cellar! He silently thanked his mom for picking this house, despite its appearances.

Then he remembered what Vikus had said on his first trip down here more than a year ago.

"_There are but five known gateways to the Underland. Two lead to the Dead Land, but you would never survive in there. Two gateways open into the waterway, but your clothing is quite dry. You are alive, you are dry, and from this I surmise you have fallen through the fifth gateway, the mouth of which I know to be of New York City."_

He didn't fall from New York, so that meant he won't land near Regalia or in the Waterway. He couldn't have taken the other passage to the Waterway, because he was dry. So that left two possible paths, which made Gregor gulp.

_The Deadland._ Gregor knew enough about it that he knew he would never survive for long. The rats lived in the Deadland. Despite the recent bond between rats and humans, Gregor knew that most of the rats weren't too happy with the alliance, and would love to see him dead. Anyways, who knows? Humans and rats could have erupted into another war with each other in the brief time he had been gone.

As he was finishing these unpleasant thoughts, Gregor's fall suddenly stopped. "Ugh" he groaned as he slowly got up and looked around. As he predicted, he was in the Deadlands.

He emptied his pockets to see if there was anything he could use. There was his flashlight, a Swiss army knife his dad had given him, and cookie he had saved.

Suddenly, he heard something. He looked around and saw a figure running towards him. As he got closer, Gregor realized that it was a rat. It appeared to be running from two humans in the distance that were chasing it.

_The rat must be a rebel of some kind, _Gregor thought. _And the humans are trying to kill him._

Gregor knew he had better watch out. If the rat was a rebel, it would probably kill him on the spot. And it appeared that it was going to do just that as it screamed and raced towards Gregor.

Gregor tried to aim his light at the rat, but it easily dodged the beams, making it more difficult to know where he was. _Never mind,_ Gregor thought. _I'll just use my echolocation._

He hadn't used echolocation in a long time, so he wasn't sure it would work. But to his relief, it worked just fine. He was able to easily "see" the rat as it tried to slash at him, but Gregor was able to avoid it and use his Swiss knife to block.

So it went on for a while. Gregor's rager side had kicked in, and this time, he was able to control it. Suddenly, he heard a cry.

"Gregor! Gregor!"

It was Lizzie. She, Boots, and Gregor's dad had all landed and in the Underland and were worridly watching Gregor fight.

Gregor faltered with his knife when he heard Lizzie, and the rat had an opening to attack. But it didn't. Instead, it stopped and asked, "Gregor? Is that you?"

Instantly, Gregor recognized the voice. "Ripred? What are you doing here in the Deadlands?"

"What are you? I understand it that your family has moved to Virginia after you rolled the stone. How did you get down to the Underland?"

"There happened to be an entryway in our new house's cellar." Gregor answered, still shaken with have fought with his friend. Or at least, his ally.

By then, the two humans had caught up with Ripred.

"Ah. Gregor, these two are Marvira and Harovin." said Ripred, turning to meet them.

"Hi." Gregor said awkwardly, and they gave him formal, but friendly, nods.

"These two are expert charters and map-makers." continued Ripred.

"Charters?" asked Gregor, confused.

"Yes. See, things have changed a lot since you have left. Now that things were at last peaceful, your girlfriend, Queen Luxa, had sent explorers to map the Uncharted Lands to see if more species exist beyond our borders. Soon, the Uncharted Lands will be the Charted Lands."

"Have they found anything yet?" asked Gregor.

"Yes, multiple species. Beetles, preying mantises, and crabs, to name a few. But the beetles, or jabbers, are the most dangerous."

"Why?"

"They are many-numbered and intelligent. And ruthless. They have already conquered most of the races in the Uncharted Lands, or as they call it, Callmoorn. Anyway, the jabbers have allied with the rebels that weren't too happy with the humans and gnawers working together. That is why I attacked you. The Deadlands are believed to house the base of the human rebels, and I thought that you were one of them. My apologies."

"I thought you were a rat rebel, running from Marvira and Harovin." said Gregor.

"No. They were just getting awfully slow, and I couldn't bear it." said Ripred, shooting an accusing glance at the two humans.

"Maybe because you were eating all of our food, that's why!" said Harovin angrily.

"Oh, well. Let bygones be bygones. You can have the rest. I'll stay. And remember to keep charting!" Ripred shouted at them, who gratefully walked off.

Ripred turned to Gregor and his family, who had been listening throughout the conversation. "Now come on. Lets go to Regalia."


	3. To Regalia

**Hello, RD here. Before we move on to Regalia, I want to respond to one of my 3 reviews.(REVIEW, PEOPLE!!) **

**To My Desperation Sorry for the similarity between stories. It is a pure coincidence. I have never read, or heard of, your story. Sorry.**

**Now that that's done, let us continue with the story!**

After about a day of walking, Gregor was extremely bored. Ripred and the two charters had not brought fliers along because they had also planned to better chart the Deadlands. It is very hard to map places while flying very fast in the air on bats.

Also, Ripred refused to fill Gregor in on anything that has happened here other than what he had said earlier, saying that the rest would have to wait until they got to Regalia.

Gregor had no idea why Ripred couldn't just spill the beans now. Throughout the first day of walking, he kept pestering Ripred for answers, thinking that the rat would have to have a breaking point. But Ripred showed surprising endurance. Gregor thought it helped a lot that he usually never even got to ask the question. Whenever he asked, "Hey, Ripred?" the rat would just brush him off, ignore him, or pretend to be busy talking to Lizzie or Gregor's dad.

But as they settled down to sleep that night, Gregor had an idea. Before he lied down, he filled his pockets with small pebbles. He got a safe distance away from the sleeping Ripred, got a pebble, and tossed it at the big rat.

THUD!

Ripred leaped up about a foot into the air. He bared his teeth and looked around. His eyes settled on Gregor,

"Did you throw that?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I need answers."

"Well, you're not getting them. I'm going back to sleep."

Gregor waited for a few minutes, then threw another pebble. And another.

Finally, Ripred gave in.

"Okay, the reason I can't tell you anything is that people might be listening."

"Who?" asked Gregor, puzzled. "Wouldn't you smell anyone who came near us?"

"Yes, usually." replied Ripred, sighing. "But see, the human rebels are also believed to have a base here outside Regalia. The rebels are allied with the jabbers, who are experts on potions. It is widely believed that they have invented a potion that eliminates smell and game some to the rebels. I, nor anyone else, would be able to smell them. That is why I can't tell you anything of significance until we get to Regalia. Now, go back to sleep. And if you even think about throwing another pebble, you are going to wish you were never born."

Gregor emptied his pockets and went to bed, glad to know at least _something_. And the next day, the group set off to Regalia. When they reached a hill overlooking the city, everyone stopped, expecting to see a nice, peaceful view of the gates. They did, too. And something else.

Just outside Regalia was a small army of humans fighting a colossus army of beetles.


	4. The Army

Author's Note: I am trying to decide if this story should be rated K+ or T

**Author's Note: I am trying to decide if this story should be rated K+ or T. I know there is not much violence before this, but the following chapter IS quite violent. However, neither this chapter, nor any of my future ones, will contain cussing, gore, etc. Please tell me in your reviews what rating this should be. Thank you.**

**Ripred Dominates**

Gregor was shocked at the sight of the jabbers. They were in a wide range of colors, from brown to red to blue to even gold. They were about the size of the crawlers, except with harder armor, and sharp pincers.

Also, it looked like to Gregor, they had an enormous amount of endurance. He didn't know the signs if a bug was tired or not, but most of the jabbers seemed to be quite healthy. Unlike the human army, which appeared to be tired, demoralized, and underfed. They had probably fighting for hours.

The humans definitely needed help.

As soon as Ripred saw the jabbers, he shouted, "Get your family to Regalia! I'll go help!"

Gregor didn't particularly like this. He wanted to help the humans as well. But he knew Ripred was right. Lizzie, Boots, and Gregor's dad needed to be brought to safety. So as soon as Ripred ran off he told his family to follow him. They darted to the walls of the city and ran to the gate.

"It's locked." Announced Gregor.

"Figures." Answered his dad." The Regalians don't want the jabbers to be let in. How are we going to get it open?"

"We knock." Said Boots simply. "We knock on door, they open door!"

Gregor looked up. "Wait a moment. I have an idea." Suddenly, he started shouting at the gate.

His dad stared. "Gregor, they can't hear us." He said.

"Quiet!" Gregor snapped, and his dad drew back in surprise. Gregor then continued shouting. He was getting angrier by the second.

He got so angry, in fact, that his rager side kicked in. Once he had it, Gregor shouted one more time and gave the door a mighty kick.

CRACK! Part of the door cracked open, and the family went inside and, unsurprisingly, found themselves surrounded by Regalian archers with their arrows at the ready. They were surprised when they saw Gregor, but they didn't have time to react. Gregor told his family to go to the palace. Then he asked the soldiers if one of them had a spare sword.

After he got a sword, he ran to join the battle.

The Regalians quickly noticed Gregor, and soon the air was filled with shouts of, "The Warrior has returned!" and, "The Overlander is here!". It was a major morale boost, and it showed.

Gregor found Ripred, and the two began killing jabbers left and right. They were much harder to kill than gnawers, though, because of their thick armor. Also, Gregor found out that the pincers were surprisingly great weapons, and he was constantly harassed by them. They held on, however.

Because of the humongous morale boost Gregor gave the humans, the Regalians managed to push back the jabbers. Soon they were in a route, and the human army eagerly chased them.

"Come." Said Ripred breathlessly. "Let's go."

When they got to Regalia, they were hailed as heroes. Gregor beamed as he looked across the crowd that greeted them. Ripred, seeing the expression on his face, rolled his eyes. "Don't get used to it." He said.

When they reached the palace, they were greeted by Vikus and Luxa.

Luxa's eyes lit up when she saw the pair. "Gregor, you have returned!"

They embraced, then Gregor turned to Vikus. "Good to see you again, Vikus."

Vikus smiled. "Oh, it is a pleasure to see you, too, Overlander."

Gregor looked out the window at the mass army of the jabbers running away. "I guess you've had some tough times with the jabbers, haven't you?"

"Our diplomats, such as myself, have had quite a bit of trouble making peace." Admitted Vikus, following Gregor's gaze. Then he turned to Ripred.

"Where are those two mapmakers? I understand it that you were helping them through the Deadlands."

"Oh, it got boring." Ripred told him. "I had absolutely nothing to do. I almost screamed with boredom. And those two charters were content all day with drawing little pictures. It goes to show you, humans are very easily amused. In fact, they-"

"Thank you, Ripred." Interrupted Vikus. Then he turned to Gregor. "Come, Overlander. I must take you to the briefing room. We have things to tell you."

"About the jabbers?" asked Gregor, recalling his conversation with Ripred outside Regalia.

"Yes." Replied Vikus as the two walked down the hall. "But also something else."

"What?"

Vikus stopped and looked at Gregor.

"You have a new quest."

**Okay, I know you probably saw that one coming. And yes, I ended up having almost no violence, so you can call off the vote. But I still may need it later on, however. See ya next chapter!**

**Ripred Dominates**

**(which he does)**


	5. The Mission

Gregor nervously walked into the war room

Gregor nervously walked into the war room. It was brightly lit, it's light illuminating 12 Regalians., all sitting around a wooden table. On the table was a map. Vikus took a seat at one of the chairs.

"Sit, Overlander." said one of the Regalians. Gregor sat down.

"We have an important matter to discuss." the man continued.

"Another prophecy?" asked Gregor curiously.

"No, the prophecies are all done and accounted for. We need you for a sort of a _mission_." said another Regalian. The first man looked at Gregor. "This is your mission: The Jabber army is in full retreat into Callmoorn, their name for the Uncharted Lands. We are trying to push them to a dead end east of the jabber's land. Here on the map." He said, pointing to an area a little to the right of a vast area of land labeled "Jabbers". Gregor saw that the Regalians had marked the spot with an X.

The Regalian continued. "If we get them to this spot, we could crush them and therefore have an opening into the jabber's homeland. However, the king of the jabbers has created a large army. We managed to break jabber codes, and it says that the king plans to rendezvous with the retreating jabber army." The man looked Gregor straight in the eye. "We can NOT let that happen. We can destroy each army separately, but not at the same time."

"Where do I come in?" asked Gregor.

"It is up to you," the man said, "to make sure that the army isn't ready. And there is only one way to do that: kill the King of the Jabbers."

Gregor drew back. "_Murder him?_"

The Regalian shook his head. "No, Gregor. You have to _kill_ him"

"It's murder."

"It's war."

"It's cowardly."

"It's the only way. Why do you hack away at beetles all day, yet refuse to kill one now?"

Gregor thought about that. After awhile, he decided to do it. "Who's coming with me?" he asked.

"Only three other people." the Regalian answered. "We plan to have you jump off a flier and onto the ground, probably under fire from flaming arrows."

"Arrows?"

"There are human rebels stationed there. They seem to be everywhere these days."

"Yeah. So who's coming with me?" Gregor asked.

"We have picked Howard, Ripred, and Sixclaw to accompany you." the man answered.

"Sixclaw? Lapblood's pup?"

"The same. He is an excellent fighter, and Ripred suggests he might be a rager. He would be a powerful ally."

"I bet." said Gregor. "What now?"

"Go to the training area. Mareth and Perdita will meet you there and train you for the mission. Court dismissed."


	6. Ambushed

"Howard

"Howard! Long time, no see!". Howard turned to meet Gregor. "Gregor! I could not believe my ears when I heard you have returned! How are you?"

"Great!" replied Gregor, grinning. "How's your medical career doing?" "Smoothly. Almost too smoothly, with the war going on. Soldiers were in such need of doctors, Perdita had to literally tear me away from the hospital. She needs my medical skills, see."

Howard lowered his voice. "I'm kind of worried about this gnawer, Sixclaw. I have never met him. And it's the first time a gnawer other than Ripred has done a joint mission with the humans. Can he be trusted?"

Gregor shrugged. "I don't know. But if he's anything like Ripred, it's going to be a _long_ trip."

As he was saying this, Ripred walked over. "Did I just hear you talking about me? Possibly how 'clever' and 'charming' I am, hm?"

"Right." said Gregor, rolling his eyes. "That's exactly what we were talking about."

The trio was interrupted by the sight of Perdita rushing into the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late." she apologized. "I was held up in the war room. Mareth won't be here today. Being the Regalian Representative to the other species, he has been called to a meeting in the Fount. It's strange, because it wasn't scheduled… oh, well." She looked around the room. This is everyone, except for Sixclaw. He should be here shortly. Now, it's time for our first lesson."

The first lesson involved jumping off bats 30 feet above the ground, which sounded completely suicidal to Gregor. But Perdita explained that on the mission, this was much safer than trying to sneak in on the ground.

They were each assigned a bat volunteer. Gregor's was deep brown color with white stripes around his neck. His name was Hercules.

Perdita showed everyone how to bend their knees as soon as they hit the ground, so it wouldn't be a sudden stop. Therefore, she said, you should be in a crouched position after you land. Then she said that they would start off at only ten feet, to get used to landing.

Ripred was first. Because he was a rat, he had to land a little differently. He expertly rolled as soon as he hit the ground, and landed on his feet.

Gregor was next. He did what Perdita told him to do, and he did pretty well. It felt as if he sprained his ankle, though.

They practiced tens for a while until each of them had it mastered. Then they moved on to 15.

After an hour they had mastered that, and were about to go to 20 when they were interrupted by a bat. It was Hermes. He looked urgent.

"We have spotted jabbers near Regalia. About 20 or so. They are running away."

"Good." said Perdita, not seeing any problem. "They had better run."

Hermes shook his head. "That's not all. They had ambushed Mareth and Sixclaw and are holding them hostage. They need help right away!"


	7. The Rescue

Hello, RD here

**Hello, RD here! I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, and thanks for waiting. I hop you'll be happy with this next chapter!**

**Ripred Dominates**

"What?!" Gregor exclaimed in disbelief. "Why would they want Mareth?"

Ripred answered. "He's the Regalian Representative. They must want him for ransom." He began pacing. "This is bad. Very bad. Mareth has been an extraordinary diplomat. We have allies all over Callmoorn because of his skill. He is essential. But the jabbers can just charge us an enormous amount of…things… for him. We have to rescue him!"

"We knew all that, Ripred. You just wasted 10 seconds of our lives."

"Guys!" Gregor shouted in exasperation. "Come on!"

Perdita nodded. "We must make haste. Come."

The trio followed her to the training field where Vikus and some other generals were waiting.

"Report." Perdita said to one of them.

"Approximately 20 jabbers have been located north-east of Regalia. Mareth and Sixclaw are with them."

"Is Mareth okay?" Gregor blurted out. The general glared at him. "Overlander, you shall speak only when spoken to! That's an order!"

Perdita gazed evenly at the general. "Wilfre, do you know who your talking to? None of us would be here today if it were not for Gregor."

Wilfre's face reddened. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Answer the boy's question."

"Yes, ma'am." Wilfre turned to Gregor. "Mareth is doing bad. He was severely beaten. Sixclaw is faring better."

Gregor's jaw dropped. "How hurt is Mareth?"

"Well, he's not going to get any better with us standing around." remarked Ripred sarcastically.

"He's right." agreed Howard. "How many soldiers are coming with us?"

"Two squadrons." began Vikus. "We'll leave in one-''

"No." said Perdita. Everyone quieted. "Only Gregor, Howard, and Ripred. It would be great practice, would it not?"

_Noooo..._thought Gregor. He would have felt much safer with the two squadrons behind him. True, Ripred was an exceptional fighter, and Howard was great, too. Not everyone can hit 7 bloodballs… Gregor still thought it was a bad idea.

Vikus was of another mind, however. "That makes a lot of sense." He said approvingly. His generals nodded. So one hour later, Gregor was on Hercules, flying towards the jabber's location. Ripred and Howard were on bats slightly behind him.

After about a half hour of flying, they spotted the jabbers. Gregor winced at the sight of the badly beaten Mareth, who was struggling to keep up with the party. Sixclaw was faring better, walking almost willingly with the jabbers.

"Now." Hercules whispered, and Gregor jumped off of the bat.

Gregor landed exactly the way Perdita had showed him, bending his knees at impact and launching into a roll. Ripred and Howard also landed, and the three of them began hacking away at the jabbers.

A gold colored jabber, who Gregor guessed to be the leader, said something in beetle, and suddenly all of the jabbers were charging towards Gregor.

_Uh-oh._ He thought, looking at the all of the beetles running at him. He ran forwards and, just before he collided, he leaped, landing right in front of the head beetle.

The golden jabber was a good fighter. But he was no match for Gregor in rager mode, and he was quickly defeated. Ripred and Howard quickly finished off the rest.

Gregor ran over to Mareth. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. Mareth nodded. "I'm fine." he said hoarsely. "But I need to tell you something. It's-''. Mareth passed out in the middle of his sentence.

In Regalia, the doctors told Gregor that Mareth would be fine, but he needed water immediately.

Mareth, however, wanted to see Gregor as soon as possible, so the two went up to Mareth's room.

"Gregor, this is urgent" Mareth said seriously. "Regalia's well-being can depend on it."

"What is it?"

Mareth took a long gulp of water. "It's-''. Suddenly, his eyes widened, his breathing grew short, and he fell over, dead.


End file.
